My Town Tutors

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  • Teachers & Students – Make Joseph Kony Famous

    There is an incredible movement in America today to make Joseph Kony, the leader of a Lord’s Resistance Army, famous. Kony’s group abducts boys to serve as soldiers and girls to become sex slaves.
    Jason Russell has started a truly an amazing movement that you will be hearing about in the upcoming weeks and months. It also is a great opportunity to teach students how to use social media effectively.
    I am using this activity with my freshman US History I class along with a senior elective class. This also could be used with current events, student council organizations, sociology, or world history.
    Before deciding if you would like to use this with your classes, be sure to view it. It is 27 minutes long and is certainly worth your time. I have seen it several times and it is definitely school appropriate. Here is the link:
    The following are some lesson ideas for the classroom.
    Writing Prompt: After viewing the video ask the following questions. Write your reaction to the video? What are your emotions? Do you believe in the goal of the organization? Do you have any ideas on how you can help? Have you been involved in other community service activities? If so, describe your experiences.
    This prompt should create a great class discussion. If your students use social media, you could discuss how and why they use it. You could also highlight what a great model Kony 2012 is for the positive use of facebook and twitter.
    Letter writing campaign – We started by identifying our state representatives – state senator, state representative, and governor. (If you have city officials, you can include these positions too.) Next, we identified our federal representatives – representatives, senators, and the President. This is a great activity of knowledge every citizen should know. You could create a per-quiz with all these positions listed. You will be shocked at how few students can identify theses individuals.
    Once you identify these individuals, assign each student an official. The students will compose a letter. We used the following guidelines:

    1. A personal introduction of who you are (last initial if you would like).
    2. An explanation of the Kony 2012 movement and why it is so important. Describe your reaction.
    3. Encourage the official to use their power and influence to make Kony 2012 an important policy issue.
    4. Urge the person to view the video and share it with others.
    5. Closing “Thank you and I look forward to your response.” Include your return address. (We used our school address.)

    The 12 Policy Makers

    Policy Maker Research: The research could be as simple as identifying the position held and the contact information. You also could have students compose a resume, powerpoint, or oral presentation. For a US history class, I would also encourage you to send letters to these individuals.
    EXTRA CREDIT: Students can be encouraged to use facebook and twitter to stay current and informed. They can follow the cause, the culture makers, and policy makers on the social media the student uses. Do not encourage people to register for any social media they do not currently use, however if they do use social media, (most high school students will use at least one) they should be engaged in making a difference.
    What might the students learn?

    1. The names and positions of the elected officials.
    2. How officials respond to constituent concerns.
    3. How motivated individuals who believe in a cause can make a difference by inspiring others to action.

    Mark Molloy is a High School Teacher and founder of My Town Tutors, a website that connects parents with local teachers who tutor. Teachers pay a $12 fee to be listed for 2 years. The teachers keep 100% of the fees.
    If you would like a copy of this activity and notes, email mark@mytowntutors.com. He would be glad to share with other teachers.

  • O o is the Kindergarten "Letter of the Week"

    Letter of the Week – O o

    During the week, please learn to identify this letter, it’s sound, and formation. At home please make a list of words that begin with this letter.
    Also identify the high frequency words “my” and “we.”

    O o Activities

    1. Open and close your mouth.
    2. Draw one picture for Mom or Dad.
    3. Put your socks on your feet.
    4. Use an orange crayon and draw ten O‘s.
    5. What does an orange taste like?
    6. Climb over two pillows.
    7. Go outside and play.
    8. Hop on one foot.
    9. How old are you?
    10. What are the opposite words for:

    On          hot         up         day
    slow         left        happy   low
    Activity: Play this game. Say, “I am going to say a word, listen carefully to it. Put your hands on your head if the word you hear starts with the O o sound. Keep your hands at your side if the word you hear does not start with the O o sound.”
    Word List: open, orange, jelly, on, little, big, love, good, off, often, tree, lamp.
    This lesson was taken directly from the homework assignments of a Massachusetts kindergarten teacher.
    My Town Tutors connects parents with teachers who tutor. It is FREE for parents to search for a teacher in their area.

  • L l is the Kindergarten "Letter of the Week"

    Letter of the Week – L l

    During the week, please learn to identify this letter, its sound, and formation. At home please make a list of words that begin with this letter.
    Also identify the high frequency words “look” and “see.”

    L Activities

    1. Listen to a story.
    2. Hop on your left foot.
    3. Look up in the sky. How many stars do you see?
    4. Draw ten long lines.
    5. Tell your family that you love them.
    6. Make yourself large and make yourself small.
    7. Help sort the laundry.
    8. Write the letters of the alphabet that you know.
    9. Send a “love letter” to someone.
    10. Look at the leaves on the tress. What color are they?

    Activity: Play this game. Say, “I am going to say a word, listen carefully to it. Put your hands on your head if the word you hear starts with the L l sound. Keep your hands at your side if the word you hear does not start with the L l sound.”
    Word List: lollipop, lick, jelly, lemon, little, big, love, good, lightning, leaf, tree, lamp.
    This lesson was taken directly from the homework assignments of a Massachusetts kindergarten teacher.
    My Town Tutors connects parents with teachers who tutor. It is FREE for parents to search for a teacher in their area.

  • Guest Blog – Why do we do things the way we do?

    One of the first questions I’m asked when a parent or colleague walks into my classroom is ‘Where are all the tables and chairs?’ At the beginning of each term the students and I spend a week experimenting with different layouts e.g. rows, groups, no desks at all, sitting on any side of the desk, any combination they can think of. At the end of this week we sit down and discuss how they would like the room to be set up, with each student giving a reason as to why they would learn better in their chosen layout. Based on this discussion we set out the tables students need and use the rest to create alcoves, or remove them from the room, giving us greater floor space and room to move within our classroom.

    When asked why I don’t have rows of set seats in my classroom, I ask ‘why do we need them, how do they help our students learn? Is being able to sit at the same desk for 6 hours a day an essential skill for an 8 year old child?’ In regards to behaviour management I have found that when given a choice as to their seat, students are also given responsibility over their decision and require fewer reminders to be in the right place, allowing me to focus on teaching.

    Whilst I understand many teachers would not like to teach this way, I believe that asking ourselves why we do things the way we do is vital to improving our teaching practices. Our world has evolved so much, and with the integration of technology we are going to see drastic changes in the ways in which we participate in the global economy. Thus the skills the students we are teaching today will require are going to be different, and our teaching styles must evolve and change to meet these new needs.

    As ‘digital natives’ our students are often going to exceed our knowledge of technology; even as a 3rd grade teacher I have students who can teach me something when using an Itouch, or assist to fix glitches with the SMART Board. I embrace this. With copious amounts of research dedicated to the benefits of collaborative learning, different learning styles, and deep understanding through hands on, in depth discovery, we must ask ourselves why we so often revert back to the model of the teacher as expert, standing in front of the class lecturing whilst students whisper or stare out the window tuning us out! When we allow students to take on the role of the expert, we teach them that their ideas are valid, that their learning has a purpose.

    Just as we as adults like to know why we’re doing something, so to should students have a purpose for their work. Some ways we have done this in our class have been used for years – such as students publishing their narratives into book format to be displayed in the classroom, others have arisen through the new technology we have available – such as practicing our proof reading skills by editing the comments left by classmates on our class blog during literacy groups, for spelling, punctuation, and structure. Students were completing the same content, but because they had a purpose their engagement and learning far exceeded that of when asked to edit a paragraph of writing they had no relationship with. Technology is not used as a token addition, rather it is a tool used regularly to foster student engagement through provision of purpose for their learning.

    Greater student engagement and genuine excitement about learning content has provided me with some hugely rewarding days as a teacher. I have yet to find a better feeling then hearing students lined up at the door excited to come to class!

    The use of technology such as the SMART Board and Itouch’s in particular, has also led to a few interested parents wanting to know what their child is learning from ‘playing games all day’ and why there is less writing in their workbooks than usual. School has changed since we were there and this is a natural question. Having already asked myself why I do things the way I do I am able to explain how we learn through games, and show some of the great educational material out there. I also address these concerns through my class blog – uploading photos, videos, explanations, and student work samples, further inviting parents to share in our classroom activities.

    Students also post and comment on the class blog. In a world being made increasingly smaller through the proliferation of technology it is vital that students learn the skills to communicate on a global platform in an effective manner. This began with our class blog, extended to commenting on other class blogs within our school, and will this year further expand through the use of ‘Quadblogging’ where we partner with three other schools across the world. As well as teaching writing content, students learn the skills to communicate online and are provided with a real glimpse into how other children around the world live.

    Just as each student has a different learning style, each teacher has a different teaching style, however we must ask ourselves why we do things the way we do if we are to evolve with the changes and continue to meet student’s needs in this new technological era.

    Amy Berrell is currently preparing to teach 3rd grade for the second year at a Christian School in New South Wales, Australia. She is passionate about incorporating innovative practices and technology into her classroom in a real and meaningful way. Throughout the year her class blog http://missberrell.blogspot.com/ will have pictures of her classroom and insights into the new practices being undertaken in her class

  • Guest Blog: How to Beat the Sugar Blues

    If you think you do have a sugar-sensitive child, or if you simply know that your child eats too much sugar, it’s time to do something about it.  You don’t need to banish sweet tastes from your home, but be a little stricter about the processed stuff.
    Children love sweet tastes, and that is completely natural.  You can’t fight it.  Sweetness itself isn’t bad.  We are programmed to seek out sweet things as good sources of nutrients, and many whole foods have a sweet taste, complete with fiber and vitamins—fruit, some veggies, maple syrup, and grain-based sweeteners.
    It’s not even the sugar cane plant that’s the problem.  It’s what we’ve done to it.
    Sugar has a whole-food form, although few people in the United States have probably ever seen it.
    But sugar cane bears no resemblance to what most families keep in the sugar bowl, or what food manufacturers pump into their lab-formulated, processed products.  We’ve changed the nature of this perfectly innocent plant, until it doesn’t even remotely resemble its natural form.  Sugar cane goes through numerous processing steps to become the white crystals we know as sugar, and they are far from “natural.”
    There are so many sweet treats out there that don’t contain white sugar or high fructose corn syrup.  Go to the store and explore.  Let your child help pick out treats, and show him how to read the labels to look for the poisons: high fructose corn syrup and sugar!
    There are also a million different ways to make simple sweet treats at home.  Here are just a few to get you started:

    • Slice a banana and drizzle with maple syrup and naturally sweetened or plain soy milk.
    • Freeze very ripe bananas (peeled), then put them in the blender with a little cocoa powder, agave syrup, and any kind of milk (I like coconut milk).  Blend to make a delicious healthful milkshake or “ice cream.”
    • Make a parfait of plain non-dairy yogurt with fresh berries and agave nectar drizzled between the layers.
    • Sprinkle toast with cinnamon and “frost” with honey.
    • Serve real maple syrup over wholegrain pancakes or waffles.  (Mix with regular “pancake syrup” to get your child used to the taste first.)
    • Try almond butter toast with a light drizzle of agave nectar, maple syrup, or even molasses or sorghum, if your child is adventurous.

    Spread natural (unsweetened) peanut butter in a stalk of celery and top with a line of raisins for the classic “ants on a log” snack.  Freeing your child from sugar’s sweet embrace can feel like an insurmountable challenge at first, but it really only takes a week or two to break sugar’s grip.  Soon, your child will actually be able to taste sweetness in so many other forms, from fruit to sweet potatoes to the natural sweetness in spices like cinnamon.  And remember, moderation is key. For some children, banning something for all eternity is likely to result in rebellion, or at least in resentment. Better to leave the real sugar out there in the world where your child will occasionally encounter it.  Let home be a largely sugar-free zone, and reap the health, weight, and behavior benefits.  They are significant.
    Guest post by Barbara Rodriguez, the organic celebrity nanny.  Her new book, The Organic Nanny’s Guide to Raising Healthy Kids: Reclaim a Natural Diet and Lifestyle for Your Child, is going to be released soon.  You can find out more great organic parenting tips and sign up for her newsletter on the website- The Organic Nanny.

  • R r is the Kindergarten "Letter of the Week"

    Letter of the Week – R r

    During the week, please learn to identify this letter, the sound, and formation. At home please make a list of words that begin with this letter.

    Also identify the high frequency words “but” and “it.”

    R Activities

    1. Draw a rainbow for someone you know.
    2. Count all the red toys in your room.
    3. Listen to the radio.
    4. Hop like a rabbit.
    5. Draw five red ballons.
    6. Ring your doorbell.
    7. Have fun rhyming words.
    8. Read your favorite nursery rhymes.
    9. Crow like a rooster.
    10. Roar like a lion.
    11. Run in your back yard or park.

    Activity: Play this game. Say, “I am going to say a word, listen carefully to it. If it starts with the R r sound, give me a thumbs up! If it doesn’t start with the I i sound, give me a thumbs down.”
    Word List: rail, roadrunner, elephant, rest, run, girl, really, ring, rope, big, rain, boy, cold, road, rabbit
    This lesson was taken directly from the homework assignments of a Massachusetts kindergarten teacher.
    My Town Tutors connects parents with teachers who tutor. It is FREE for parents to search for a teacher in their area.

  • H h is the Kindergarten "Letter of the Week"

    Letter of the Week – H h

    During the week, please learn to identify this letter, the sound, and formation. As home please make a list of words that begin with this letter.
    Also identify the high frequency words “but” and “it.”

    H Activities

    1. Tell Mom what makes you happy.
    2. How many pennies make ten cents?
    3. Draw your house. Practice your address with someone.
    4. Hop ten times on one foot.
    5. Cut out a square and then a triangle. Put them together to make a house.
    6. Gallop like a horse.
    7. Hoot like an owl.
    8. How many stars are there in the sky?
    9. Pretend it is Halloween. What costume will you wear?
    10. Hug a friend.

    Activity: Play this game. Say, “I am going to say a word, listen carefully to it. If it starts with the I i sound, give me a thumbs up! If it doesn’t start with the H h sound, give me a thumbs down.”
    Word List: happy, heavy, elephant, horn, house, girl, helicopter, hop, hug, big, hippo, boy, help, hot, cold, hungry, hundred
    This lesson was taken directly from the homework assignments of a Massachusetts kindergarten teacher.
    My Town Tutors connects parents with teachers who tutor. It is FREE for parents to search for a teacher in their area.

  • Teachers Wanted to Tutor Local Students!

    My Town Tutors is a NATIONAL website that ONLY lists teachers who tutor. It is designed to make it easy for parents to connect with local teachers who tutor.
    We have one simple belief “Teachers are great tutors!”
    Last fall we tested My Town Tutors on the South Shore of Massachusetts. The response was incredible! Teachers, parents, students, and guidance counselors loved it. Our goal now is provide the same great service to school communities in every state.
    To celebrate our expansion and to encourage teachers from all over the country to register, we are offering a 2-year membership for only $12. That is the only cost to the teacher. 50 cents a month! (A very low cost for the opportunity to make several thousand dollars a year.)
    There are no tricks. No other gimmicks.
    In order to be the best, we need to recruit the best teachers. So we came up with our special promotion of $12 for a two year membership. We want to give teachers a raise, by allowing them to keep 100% of their tutoring fees.
    The more teachers who sign-up for our service, the more valuable we are to parents. If you are a teacher, please share this post with other teachers.
    If you have any questions, please email mark@mytowntutors.com. I would love feedback!

  • N n is the Kindergarten "Letter of the Week"

    Letter of the Week – N n

    During the week, please learn to identify this letter, its sound, and formation. At home please make a list of words that begin with this letter.

    Also identify the high frequency words “but” and “in.”
    HAVE FUN!
    Please enjoy these activities with your child at home during the week.

    N Activities

    1. Put the napkins on your dinner table.
    2. Count the nickels in Dad’s pocket.
    3. Practice saying your phone number.
    4. Look up at the night sky. What do you see?
    5. Jump nine times.
    6. Print as many numbers as you know.
    7. Write your name.
    8. Look at the newspaper with Mom or Dad.
    9. Name nine farm animals.
    10. Be nice to your friends.

    Activity: Play this game. Say, “I am going to say a word, listen carefully to it. If it starts with the N n sound, give me a thumbs up! If it doesn’t start with the N n sound, give me a thumbs down.”
    Word List: nine, net, bird, nice, note, pen, nap, cat, nose number, day, night, plant, nature
    This lesson was taken directly from the homework assignments of a Massachusetts kindergarten teacher.
    My Town Tutors connects parents with teachers who tutor. It is FREE for parents to search to a teacher in their area.
    Teachers can register for only $12 for a full year. That is the only fee. Teachers keep 100% of their hourly rate.
     

  • C is the Kindergarten "Letter of the Week"

    Letter of the Week – C

    During the week, please learn to identify this letter, its sound, and formation. At home please make a list of words that begin with this letter.
    Also identify the high frequency words “like” and “is.”
    HAVE FUN!
    Please enjoy these activities with your child at home during the week.

    C Activities

    1. Count the toothbrushes in your home.
    2. Count how many beds are in your home.
    3. Count how many windows in your home.
    4. Count the tress in your yard.
    5. Count the bathtubs in your house.
    6. How many stuffed animals are on your bed?
    7. Count your toes.
    8. How many clocks are in your home?
    9. Count the televisions in your home.
    10. How many flashlights do you have in your home?
    11. Check the smoke detectors in your house and check the batteries.

    This lesson was taken directly from the homework assignments of a Massachusetts kindergarten teacher.
    My Town Tutors connects parents with teachers who tutor. It is FREE for parents to search to a teacher in their area.
    Teachers can register for only $12 for a full year. That is the only fee. Teachers keep 100% of their hourly rate.